"If I had to choose between newspapers without government and government without newspapers I would choose the newspapers. At least they go out of business when they don't tell the truth."
Thomas Jefferson
YouTube - Judge Andrew Napolitano: The Government Lies to You!!! Freedom Watch 7/31/2010: ""
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Wants To Spill Your Corporate Secrets - Andy Greenberg - The Firewall - Forbes
A novel idea. Actually avoid corruption. I LOVE it!
Senate Rejects Proposal to Ban Earmarks - CNBC
How disappointing. Not a surprise, but still disappointing. It's not the amount of money that is the issue with earmarks, it's the potential for corruption.
But they have factored in a number of corruption scandals and have become a symbol of wasteful spending for many grassroots 'Tea Party' activists who helped Republicans win big in the Nov. 2 elections."
Fannie, Freddie Fighting Banks On Mortgage Buybacks
Looks like Fannie and Freddie are calling loan originators and investment banks on their faulty lending and processing of mortgages.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Health Care Law Faces Threat of Being Undercut by Courts - NYTimes.com
Health Care Law Faces Threat of Being Undercut by Courts - NYTimes.com: "Because the Supreme Court has said the commerce clause of the Constitution allows Congress to regulate “activities that substantially affect interstate commerce,” the judges must decide whether the failure to obtain insurance can be defined as an “activity.”"
Monday, November 22, 2010
Matt Taibbi: Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners | Rolling Stone Politics
The size and scope of this thing makes the first financial crisis seem like small potatoes. Scary. [warning: for those who are sensitive, the author drops the f-bomb a few times in this article]
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Foreclosure Fraud – MSNBC Video w/ Cenk & Matt Taibbi « Foreclosure Fraud – Fighting Foreclosure Fraud by Sharing the Knowledge
A nice overview of the mortgage-backed security/foreclosuregate issue.
Foreclosure Fraud – MSNBC Video w/ Cenk & Matt Taibbi « Foreclosure Fraud – Fighting Foreclosure Fraud by Sharing the Knowledge
Foreclosure Fraud – MSNBC Video w/ Cenk & Matt Taibbi « Foreclosure Fraud – Fighting Foreclosure Fraud by Sharing the Knowledge
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Millionaires to Obama: Tax us - Yahoo! News
This is awesome. The only thing I would say is that if *I* were a millionaire taxpayer, I would want to be sure that the government was making tangible strides toward fiscal responsibility before volunteering to be taxed even higher.
"More than 40 of the nation's millionaires have joined Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength to ask President Obama to discontinue the tax breaks established for them during the Bush administration, as Salon reports."
Friday, November 19, 2010
Unemployment Extension Defeated In House
The truth is that lost jobs don't always come back. Companies that cut employees during a recession compensate by making their operations more efficient.
We can't keep providing unemployment benefits indefinitely.
The only way to introduce a healthy number of new jobs into this economy is to make it attractive for entrepreneurs to start new businesses. We need to support science and innovation so there is a good infrastructure for the future.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Treasury Admits It Hasn't Fined Banks For Failing To Comply With Mortgage Modification Program (VIDEO)
Unbelievable. And do you want to know why banks weren't modifying loans? Because they make more money in a foreclosure. Because it's all about money.
And now we find out that our government has no teeth.
"In testimony before a House Financial Services subcommittee, Phyllis Caldwell, chief of Treasury's Homeownership Preservation Office, said her department has pursued "non-monetary remedies" but has not actually imposed any fines on banks for not complying with the administration's flagship $50 billion foreclosure prevention program."
Victory on H.R. 3808 Vote – So, Who is Who and What is What « Foreclosure Fraud – Fighting Foreclosure Fraud by Sharing the Knowledge
This is fantastic! Attempts to overturn the president's veto on HR 3808 failed!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Rachel Maddow: Publicizing GOP statements ignores shortcomings of GOP policy
Good points, here. The policies of the Republican Party are going to increase the deficit by several hundred billion dollars.
My MAJOR gripe with this is that, while Maddow is correct that deficits were lowest when we had Democratic presidents, she chooses to completely disregard who held the majority in Congress during these presidencies. The party in power has just as much, if not more, to do with determining the budget than the president. As you can see from the following chart, Clinton had a Republican majority and Reagan had a Democratic majority.
My MAJOR gripe with this is that, while Maddow is correct that deficits were lowest when we had Democratic presidents, she chooses to completely disregard who held the majority in Congress during these presidencies. The party in power has just as much, if not more, to do with determining the budget than the president. As you can see from the following chart, Clinton had a Republican majority and Reagan had a Democratic majority.
CMOHS.org - Staff Sergeant GIUNTA, SALVATORE A., U.S. Army
Staff Sergeant Salvatore A. Giunta received the Congressional Medal of Honor today. The first live recipient since Vietnam.
Congratulations, Specialist Giunta. And thank you for your selfless and courageous service.
CMOHS.org - Staff Sergeant GIUNTA, SALVATORE A., U.S. Army: "Without regard to the ongoing fire, Specialist Giunta engaged the enemy before prepping and throwing grenades, using the explosions for cover in order to conceal his position. Attempting to reach additional wounded fellow soldiers who were separated from the squad, Specialist Giunta and his team encountered a barrage of enemy fire that forced them to the ground. The team continued forward and upon reaching the wounded soldiers, Specialist Giunta realized that another soldier was still separated from the element. Specialist Giunta then advanced forward on his own initiative. As he crested the top of a hill, he observed two insurgents carrying away an American soldier. He immediately engaged the enemy, killing one and wounding the other. Upon reaching the wounded soldier, he began to provide medical aid, as his squad caught up and provided security."
Congratulations, Specialist Giunta. And thank you for your selfless and courageous service.
CMOHS.org - Staff Sergeant GIUNTA, SALVATORE A., U.S. Army: "Without regard to the ongoing fire, Specialist Giunta engaged the enemy before prepping and throwing grenades, using the explosions for cover in order to conceal his position. Attempting to reach additional wounded fellow soldiers who were separated from the squad, Specialist Giunta and his team encountered a barrage of enemy fire that forced them to the ground. The team continued forward and upon reaching the wounded soldiers, Specialist Giunta realized that another soldier was still separated from the element. Specialist Giunta then advanced forward on his own initiative. As he crested the top of a hill, he observed two insurgents carrying away an American soldier. He immediately engaged the enemy, killing one and wounding the other. Upon reaching the wounded soldier, he began to provide medical aid, as his squad caught up and provided security."
Why We Should Beware Budget-Deficit Mania
Here is an interesting argument that the deficit isn't such a big deal, after all.
Why We Should Beware Budget-Deficit Mania: "The size of the budget deficit (and cumulative debt) is meaningless without reference to the size of the economy. What looks like a big debt 10 or 20 years from now may turn out to be small if growth has been rapid in the intervening years. By the same token, a seemingly small future debt can become unmanageable if the economy tanks, or barely grows at all."
Why We Should Beware Budget-Deficit Mania: "The size of the budget deficit (and cumulative debt) is meaningless without reference to the size of the economy. What looks like a big debt 10 or 20 years from now may turn out to be small if growth has been rapid in the intervening years. By the same token, a seemingly small future debt can become unmanageable if the economy tanks, or barely grows at all."
Dying With Debt: A Dirty Little Retirement Secret - CNBC
Well, that's something I wouldn't have expected. Unfortunately for heirs, this debt does not die with the card holder. It will be taken out of the estate. If there still isn't enough money to cover the bill, it will depend on what state law dictates. In some case, heirs have to take on that debt as their own. In other cases, the credit card companies eat it.
Dying With Debt: A Dirty Little Retirement Secret - CNBC: "More than half of those surveyed had saved less than $50,000 — and many of that group said they’d saved absolutely nothing — yet they retired anyway! Just 4 percent said they had delayed their retirement due to debt.
“They get to a certain age and they feel privileged,” Ellington said. “They say, ‘I’m going to go on that trip even though I have to put it on my credit card.’”"
Dying With Debt: A Dirty Little Retirement Secret - CNBC: "More than half of those surveyed had saved less than $50,000 — and many of that group said they’d saved absolutely nothing — yet they retired anyway! Just 4 percent said they had delayed their retirement due to debt.
“They get to a certain age and they feel privileged,” Ellington said. “They say, ‘I’m going to go on that trip even though I have to put it on my credit card.’”"
Man Makes Ridiculously Complicated Chart To Find Out Who Owns His Mortgage (CHART)
Huh. It's almost as if something real and tangible has been bastardized into a two-dimensional chart.
Hey, good luck finding those origination papers, guys!
Man Makes Ridiculously Complicated Chart To Find Out Who Owns His Mortgage (CHART)
Hey, good luck finding those origination papers, guys!
Man Makes Ridiculously Complicated Chart To Find Out Who Owns His Mortgage (CHART)
Mitch McConnell Backs Earmark Ban After Requesting Nearly $1 BILLION In Pork
Really? According to Mitch McConnell, cutting earmarks wouldn't save any money. That's funny because last I checked, every little BILLION counted toward reducing the deficit.
Keep an eye on this issue. It's a slippery eel and as soon as the American people turn their backs Congress will be right back at it. After all, this is merely a moratorium...no laws have been passed taking earmarks off the table for good. And until that happens, I will assume we're merely being placated.
Mitch McConnell Backs Earmark Ban After Requesting Nearly $1 BILLION In Pork: "The Kentucky Republican has requested 158 solo earmarks amounting to a cost of $927,872,000 over the past two years, according to data provided by LegiStorm.
During a recent appearance on CBS' 'Face the Nation,' McConnell expressed doubt over the ability of an earmark ban to advance spending reduction initiatives.
'The problem is, it doesn't save any money,' explained the Senate leader. 'What we really need to do is to concentrate on reducing spending and reducing debt. And this debate doesn't save any money, which is why it is kind of exasperating to some of us who really want to cut spending.'"
Keep an eye on this issue. It's a slippery eel and as soon as the American people turn their backs Congress will be right back at it. After all, this is merely a moratorium...no laws have been passed taking earmarks off the table for good. And until that happens, I will assume we're merely being placated.
Mitch McConnell Backs Earmark Ban After Requesting Nearly $1 BILLION In Pork: "The Kentucky Republican has requested 158 solo earmarks amounting to a cost of $927,872,000 over the past two years, according to data provided by LegiStorm.
During a recent appearance on CBS' 'Face the Nation,' McConnell expressed doubt over the ability of an earmark ban to advance spending reduction initiatives.
'The problem is, it doesn't save any money,' explained the Senate leader. 'What we really need to do is to concentrate on reducing spending and reducing debt. And this debate doesn't save any money, which is why it is kind of exasperating to some of us who really want to cut spending.'"
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Little-Noticed Bill Could Make It Harder To Challenge Foreclosures
Hey! Remember this? Well, it's back. Congress is trying to block the President's veto by attempting a 2/3 majority in the House and Senate. The House votes TOMORROW according to this 4closurefraud.org article.
Time to call your representatives and senators, people...
Little-Noticed Bill Could Make It Harder To Challenge Foreclosures
"Challenging foreclosures could become more difficult for homeowners if the president signs a bill that passed through the Senate last week. The little-noticed bill comes at a time when the validity of foreclosure proceedings across the nation has been called into question."
Time to call your representatives and senators, people...
Little-Noticed Bill Could Make It Harder To Challenge Foreclosures
"Challenging foreclosures could become more difficult for homeowners if the president signs a bill that passed through the Senate last week. The little-noticed bill comes at a time when the validity of foreclosure proceedings across the nation has been called into question."
Six Sigma Makes Government More Efficient
What a fantastic idea! Use what works in the private sector to make the government more efficient!
Quality Digest Magazine
"Governments have taken note of the dramatic successes the manufacturing industry has enjoyed with Six Sigma, and an increasing number are implementing Six Sigma programs of their own. Implementing Six Sigma within government bureaucracies brings challenges that are specific to the public sector. Chief among these are reluctant employees and a lack of available funding for the necessary training. But those hesitant employees are often more easily convinced than their manufacturing counterparts that Six Sigma can work. There’s little of the “been there, done that” attitude that some private-sector employees have about yet another quality program.
The benefits of Six Sigma are often more prominent in local municipalities, but whether local or federal, the results are impressive."
Quality Digest Magazine
"Governments have taken note of the dramatic successes the manufacturing industry has enjoyed with Six Sigma, and an increasing number are implementing Six Sigma programs of their own. Implementing Six Sigma within government bureaucracies brings challenges that are specific to the public sector. Chief among these are reluctant employees and a lack of available funding for the necessary training. But those hesitant employees are often more easily convinced than their manufacturing counterparts that Six Sigma can work. There’s little of the “been there, done that” attitude that some private-sector employees have about yet another quality program.
The benefits of Six Sigma are often more prominent in local municipalities, but whether local or federal, the results are impressive."
Wonk Room » McConnell Stumbles Trying Explain Contradiction Between Repealing Health Law And Lowering Deficit
Mitch McConnell...despite the NON-PARTISAN conclusions of the CBO...refuses to admit that HE IS WRONG on the healthcare law increasing deficits.
I'm all for fighting for a principle...just SAY you disagree with the idea of government-sanctioned healthcare...but I'll be damned if I will abide a slippery politician using LIES to back up his positions. The American people deserve better than that.
Wonk Room » McConnell Stumbles Trying Explain Contradiction Between Repealing Health Law And Lowering Deficit
"The Congressional Budget Office says, the Obama health care bill, for all the policy disagreements that you have with it, reduces the deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years or so. Are those inconsistent?
MCCONNELL: Well, the assumptions are all wrong. The fact of the matter is if you raise taxes in the middle of a recession, the government is going to get less revenue, not more….Nobody seriously believes the health care bill is actually going to save money. Nobody believes that. So don’t assume that you’re going to exacerbate the deficit by doing any of those things."
I'm all for fighting for a principle...just SAY you disagree with the idea of government-sanctioned healthcare...but I'll be damned if I will abide a slippery politician using LIES to back up his positions. The American people deserve better than that.
Wonk Room » McConnell Stumbles Trying Explain Contradiction Between Repealing Health Law And Lowering Deficit
"The Congressional Budget Office says, the Obama health care bill, for all the policy disagreements that you have with it, reduces the deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years or so. Are those inconsistent?
MCCONNELL: Well, the assumptions are all wrong. The fact of the matter is if you raise taxes in the middle of a recession, the government is going to get less revenue, not more….Nobody seriously believes the health care bill is actually going to save money. Nobody believes that. So don’t assume that you’re going to exacerbate the deficit by doing any of those things."
Banks Are Escaping Big Foreclosure Class Action Lawsuits
What did I tell you? It's only a matter of time before the lawyers find a crack in the armor...
Banks Are Escaping Big Foreclosure Class Action Lawsuits
"Some plaintiff lawyers who have devoted resources to the issue haven't walked away yet. Bruce Simon, with Pearson, Simon, Warshaw & Penny, said this week that his firm still intends to file a national class action.
And Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein's Eric Fastiff said his firm is still examining the issue. "Investigations take time," he said."
Banks Are Escaping Big Foreclosure Class Action Lawsuits
"Some plaintiff lawyers who have devoted resources to the issue haven't walked away yet. Bruce Simon, with Pearson, Simon, Warshaw & Penny, said this week that his firm still intends to file a national class action.
And Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein's Eric Fastiff said his firm is still examining the issue. "Investigations take time," he said."
'Robo-Signer' Foreclosure Scandal May Threaten Fundamental Financial Stability, Government Watchdog Warns
I said it before, when lawyers smell blood in the water, there is NOTHING that will keep them from attacking. Lawsuits will force the government and the banking industry into a corner and the courts will have to decide who pays.
'Robo-Signer' Foreclosure Scandal May Threaten Fundamental Financial Stability, Government Watchdog Warns
'Robo-Signer' Foreclosure Scandal May Threaten Fundamental Financial Stability, Government Watchdog Warns
Watch Performance in Progress as CPO Jeffrey Zients Launches New Website | Executive Gov
The Chief Performance Officer is, in my opinion, one of the most important posts in the government. (*Note: performance.gov is not up and running yet, but there's a link to the entire Accountable Government Initiative at the end of the article.)
Awesome that there's somebody out there working to reduce waste, redundancy, and inefficiency!
Watch Performance in Progress as CPO Jeffrey Zients Launches New Website | Executive Gov
"While recent administrations have seen between 15 to 20 percent of their proposed discretionary cuts actually enacted, the Administration worked with Congress to enact 60 percent of proposed discretionary cuts for FY 2010. Programs cut range from the F-22 fighter that the Pentagon said it didn’t need to a radio navigation system made obsolete by GPS.
*Saving $40 Billion in Contracting.
*Reducing No-Bid and Other High-Risk Contracts by 10 percent.
*Disposing of Unneeded Federal Real Estate to Save $8 billion.
*Cracking Down to Reduce Improper Payments by $50 billion.
There's a lot more, but these are few highlights."
Awesome that there's somebody out there working to reduce waste, redundancy, and inefficiency!
Watch Performance in Progress as CPO Jeffrey Zients Launches New Website | Executive Gov
"While recent administrations have seen between 15 to 20 percent of their proposed discretionary cuts actually enacted, the Administration worked with Congress to enact 60 percent of proposed discretionary cuts for FY 2010. Programs cut range from the F-22 fighter that the Pentagon said it didn’t need to a radio navigation system made obsolete by GPS.
*Saving $40 Billion in Contracting.
*Reducing No-Bid and Other High-Risk Contracts by 10 percent.
*Disposing of Unneeded Federal Real Estate to Save $8 billion.
*Cracking Down to Reduce Improper Payments by $50 billion.
There's a lot more, but these are few highlights."
Monday, November 15, 2010
Why Did The Great Depression Last So Long? - Forbes.com
This article argues one of many theories as to why the Great Depression lasted as long as it did. In this case, the thought is that it was due to the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) that was passed in 1933. This piece of legislation (that was later ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and reversed) allowed, even encouraged, the formation of monopolies in various industries in exchange for a promise to increase wages and benefits for workers.
Of course, it is documented all throughout history that efforts to control the free markets usually end in negative and unforeseen consequences. In this case, unemployment stayed high because businesses could only afford to pay high wages and benefits for a few workers. In addition, no competition meant no innovation...sentencing that era to stagnation.
Why Did The Great Depression Last So Long? - Forbes.com: "What prevented the normal forces of supply and demand from working? The main culprit appears to be government policies that restricted competition."
Of course, it is documented all throughout history that efforts to control the free markets usually end in negative and unforeseen consequences. In this case, unemployment stayed high because businesses could only afford to pay high wages and benefits for a few workers. In addition, no competition meant no innovation...sentencing that era to stagnation.
Why Did The Great Depression Last So Long? - Forbes.com: "What prevented the normal forces of supply and demand from working? The main culprit appears to be government policies that restricted competition."
James Kwak: Dear Mr. President, Please Don't Extend the Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest Americans
Here's an argument against reinstating ANY of the Bush tax cuts.
James Kwak: Dear Mr. President, Please Don't Extend the Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest Americans
"...letting the tax cuts expire will be better for the middle class, for one big reason–actually, 3.7 trillion reasons.
$3.7 trillion is the figure that is generally cited as the projected ten-year impact of the Bush tax cuts. Letting the tax cuts expire will eliminate $3.7 trillion from the projected national debt with one stroke."
Thanks for the link, Trent!
James Kwak: Dear Mr. President, Please Don't Extend the Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest Americans
"...letting the tax cuts expire will be better for the middle class, for one big reason–actually, 3.7 trillion reasons.
$3.7 trillion is the figure that is generally cited as the projected ten-year impact of the Bush tax cuts. Letting the tax cuts expire will eliminate $3.7 trillion from the projected national debt with one stroke."
Thanks for the link, Trent!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Debt Doesn't Matter - TIME
This article offers an opposing view on debt and spending. It's based on the theory that we just haven't spent enough to kick us into recovery. You have only to look at history to see where this idea was born. After the crash in 1929, the economy languished for 12 years before the clouds finally parted and employment moved back under 10%. What precipitated that recovery? We entered WWII and government military spending skyrocketed... whole industries related to the war were born.
It's something to think about.
Debt Doesn't Matter - TIME
It's something to think about.
Debt Doesn't Matter - TIME
Friday, November 12, 2010
Fair Tax Pros and Cons
When the only major "con" for a fair tax is that the IRS would be cut by two-thirds and the tax accountant industry would be destroyed, I say, "DO IT!"
Fair Tax Pros and Cons
Fair Tax Pros and Cons
Fair Tax Pros and Cons
When the only major "con" for a fair tax is that the IRS would be cut by two-thirds and the tax accountant industry would be destroyed, I say, "DO IT!"
Fair Tax Pros and Cons
Fair Tax Pros and Cons
Sales Tax Spin | FactCheck.org
Wow. Throwing out current federal tax code and replacing it with the Fair Tax sounds...well, fair.
Sales Tax Spin | FactCheck.org
"This attack — and others like it — omit mention of two key points, however.
The FairTax proposal is intended to replace existing federal taxes, not add to them. According to its backers, it "replaces federal income taxes including personal, estate, gift, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, self-employment, and corporate taxes."
The proposal also comes with a "prebate" feature aimed at offsetting the sales tax on essentials, such as food and clothing. A single person would get cash payments of $208 a month ($2,491 per year) and a couple with two children would get $559 monthly ($6,702 per year)."
Sales Tax Spin | FactCheck.org
"This attack — and others like it — omit mention of two key points, however.
The FairTax proposal is intended to replace existing federal taxes, not add to them. According to its backers, it "replaces federal income taxes including personal, estate, gift, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, self-employment, and corporate taxes."
The proposal also comes with a "prebate" feature aimed at offsetting the sales tax on essentials, such as food and clothing. A single person would get cash payments of $208 a month ($2,491 per year) and a couple with two children would get $559 monthly ($6,702 per year)."
Thursday, November 11, 2010
White House Gives In On Bush Tax Cuts
Shoulda stuck to your guns, Mr. President. I don't like paying higher taxes any more than the next guy, but the only way we can deal with record deficits is to cut spending AND raise taxes...at least temporarily.
White House Gives In On Bush Tax Cuts
White House Gives In On Bush Tax Cuts
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Debt Commission Report Targets Social Security, Medicare
I support the suggestions made in this report. I know it's highly unpopular and the idea of losing public broadcasting and the National Park Service makes me feel physically ill.
But we can't keep funding programs that we can't pay for and until we are at a zero deficit, we need to do some pruning. It's simple math and unless you want to pay more than half your income in taxes from this point on, we HAVE to do this.
Ouch.
Debt Commission Report Targets Social Security, Medicare: "Reduce funding to the Smithsonian and the National Park Service and allow the programs to offset the reduction through fees; Cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."
But we can't keep funding programs that we can't pay for and until we are at a zero deficit, we need to do some pruning. It's simple math and unless you want to pay more than half your income in taxes from this point on, we HAVE to do this.
Ouch.
Debt Commission Report Targets Social Security, Medicare: "Reduce funding to the Smithsonian and the National Park Service and allow the programs to offset the reduction through fees; Cut funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."
Alaska Senate Election: Joe Miller SUES Over Voter Intent Issue
Wow. What a sad attempt to thwart the will of the people, Joe Miller. Shame on you.
Alaska Senate Election: Joe Miller SUES Over Voter Intent Issue
"Miller maintains election law must be upheld in scrutinizing the ballots, meaning the ballots must have the oval filled in and either "Murkowski" or "Lisa Murkowski" written next to it to be a valid vote for Murkowski."
Alaska Senate Election: Joe Miller SUES Over Voter Intent Issue
"Miller maintains election law must be upheld in scrutinizing the ballots, meaning the ballots must have the oval filled in and either "Murkowski" or "Lisa Murkowski" written next to it to be a valid vote for Murkowski."
Op-Ed Columnist - Bleeding Heart Tightwads - NYTimes.com
Incidentally, just because rich people are greedy bastards (some of them...I know a lot of non-greedy rich people who give far more than 10% of their income to charity) doesn't mean that conservatives are. They give more of a percentage of their income to charity (even when you discount religious giving) than liberals do.
Op-Ed Columnist - Bleeding Heart Tightwads - NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Columnist - Bleeding Heart Tightwads - NYTimes.com
Generosity And Income | American Demographics | Find Articles at BNET
Hmmm. Wealthier Americans give less of their money and time to charity than poorer Americans, according to research cited in this article.
Huh. May I suggest that if you don't like entitlements, you need to give MORE. And if you're not willing to do that, keep "giving" 35+% of your taxes to the government.
The $303.7 billion that American's contributed to charity last year only accounts for 24% of what the government spent on entitlements ($1.961 trillion). That's a big gap to fill.
Generosity And Income | American Demographics | Find Articles at BNET: "People earning less than $25,000 contribute an average of 4.2 percent of their household income to charitable groups, while those making $100,000 or more shell out an average of 2.7 percent of earnings. This trend has been a consistent finding of Washington, D.C.-based Independent Sector, a nonprofit organization that has been tracking charitable giving since 1987."
Huh. May I suggest that if you don't like entitlements, you need to give MORE. And if you're not willing to do that, keep "giving" 35+% of your taxes to the government.
The $303.7 billion that American's contributed to charity last year only accounts for 24% of what the government spent on entitlements ($1.961 trillion). That's a big gap to fill.
Generosity And Income | American Demographics | Find Articles at BNET: "People earning less than $25,000 contribute an average of 4.2 percent of their household income to charitable groups, while those making $100,000 or more shell out an average of 2.7 percent of earnings. This trend has been a consistent finding of Washington, D.C.-based Independent Sector, a nonprofit organization that has been tracking charitable giving since 1987."
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Martin Erzinger, Morgan Stanley Wealth Manager, Won't Face Felony Charges For Hit-And-Run
Are you KIDDING me?! This man ran over a cyclist and fled the scene. He gave his victim spinal cord and brain injuries. But you know what? He was given a MISDEMEANOR. Why? Because the judge didn't want to hurt his career as a Morgan Stanley wealth manager.
Disgusting. If this man was a dishwasher at McDonald's he'd be a felon in prison. Where is the justice?
Martin Erzinger, Morgan Stanley Wealth Manager, Won't Face Felony Charges For Hit-And-Run
"District Attorney Mark Hurlbert says it wouldn't be wise to prosecute Erzinger -- doing so might hurt his source of income. Here's Vail Daily:
"Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger's profession, and that entered into it," Hurlbert said."
Disgusting. If this man was a dishwasher at McDonald's he'd be a felon in prison. Where is the justice?
Martin Erzinger, Morgan Stanley Wealth Manager, Won't Face Felony Charges For Hit-And-Run
"District Attorney Mark Hurlbert says it wouldn't be wise to prosecute Erzinger -- doing so might hurt his source of income. Here's Vail Daily:
"Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger's profession, and that entered into it," Hurlbert said."
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Breakdown: Will the Tea Party Stall the Economy? | The Nation
Oh, Dean Baker...you are an evil genius.
Wouldn't it be marvelous if the new Tea Party legislators actually stuck to their guns and refused to allow Congress to raise the debt ceiling? See, that's the litmus test, isn't it? Will they actually do what they were sent to Washington to do?
Sadly, I'm not holding my breath...
The Breakdown: Will the Tea Party Stall the Economy? | The Nation
Wouldn't it be marvelous if the new Tea Party legislators actually stuck to their guns and refused to allow Congress to raise the debt ceiling? See, that's the litmus test, isn't it? Will they actually do what they were sent to Washington to do?
Sadly, I'm not holding my breath...
The Breakdown: Will the Tea Party Stall the Economy? | The Nation
Nation Waist-Deep In Soybeans After $30 Trillion Farm Subsidy Bill Accidentally Passed | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
This is pretty funny.
Nation Waist-Deep In Soybeans After $30 Trillion Farm Subsidy Bill Accidentally Passed | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
"In the Senate, meanwhile, efforts to repeal the subsidy have been held up by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), whose state now enjoys a median household income of $131 million.
"I'm not going to get into this silly debate about whether there are too many or too few soybeans," said Grassley, standing chest-deep in the hulled oilseeds as he addressed the Iowa Soybean Association. "The bottom line is this subsidy protects good, honest soybean jobs from being shipped overseas, and unlike my opponents, I choose to stand with American workers."
Nation Waist-Deep In Soybeans After $30 Trillion Farm Subsidy Bill Accidentally Passed | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
"In the Senate, meanwhile, efforts to repeal the subsidy have been held up by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), whose state now enjoys a median household income of $131 million.
"I'm not going to get into this silly debate about whether there are too many or too few soybeans," said Grassley, standing chest-deep in the hulled oilseeds as he addressed the Iowa Soybean Association. "The bottom line is this subsidy protects good, honest soybean jobs from being shipped overseas, and unlike my opponents, I choose to stand with American workers."
Palin to Bernanke: ‘Cease and Desist’ - By Robert Costa - The Corner - National Review Online
I think Sarah Palin is right on this. The Fed is playing a dangerous game. The first round of quantitative easing just barely made a whisper of a difference...temporarily. The concern is that infusing cash into the economy like this is akin to lighting a range with a bad striker. You turn on the gas and nothing happens. So you turn it up higher. And higher. Until you get to a point where you'd better hope that spark doesn't hit because if it does the whole place will go "boom".
Palin to Bernanke: ‘Cease and Desist’ - By Robert Costa - The Corner - National Review Online
"We shouldn’t be playing around with inflation. It’s not for nothing Reagan called it “as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber, and as deadly as a hit man.” The Fed’s pump priming addiction has got our small businesses running scared, and our allies worried. The German finance minister called the Fed’s proposals “clueless.”
Palin to Bernanke: ‘Cease and Desist’ - By Robert Costa - The Corner - National Review Online
"We shouldn’t be playing around with inflation. It’s not for nothing Reagan called it “as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber, and as deadly as a hit man.” The Fed’s pump priming addiction has got our small businesses running scared, and our allies worried. The German finance minister called the Fed’s proposals “clueless.”
Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield
Ben & Jerry's should be held up as a wonderful example of how a business should be run. I firmly believe that our country wouldn't be in nearly the mess it is now (companies and government robbing the American people of billions if not trillions of bale-out dollars...nearly 10% unemployment) if more entrepreneurs followed the Ben & Jerry business model.
Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield
Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield
3 Strange Things About The GM IPO : Planet Money : NPR
The government is getting ready to offer up a third of GM's stock as an IPO. The prospectus is hilarious.
3 Strange Things About The GM IPO : Planet Money : NPR
3 Strange Things About The GM IPO : Planet Money : NPR
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Bill Maher vs. Jon Stewart: Maher Takes On Rally To Restore Sanity (VIDEO)
Whoa. I'm not a big Bill Maher fan, but he touched on something here that I wondered about regarding the Rally To Restore Sanity, as well.
WHY was their take-away message that the media needs to tone it down? I mean, I agree that the press contributes to hate-mongering in this country...there's no doubt. But, without the opposition we get from these two disparate camps of thought (progressive and conservative) we wouldn't have any idea what's going on in our country. We need the conflict so we can get at the truth.
Here's a great example. Conservatives were up in arms a few weeks ago when Bob Edwards was fired from NPR for stating a potentially racially inflammatory opinion on Fox News because it violated his contract. Supporters from far and wide decried the unfairness of it all. Yeah, yeah. But then, last week Keith Olbermann was suspended without pay for contributing to campaigns without getting permission from MSNBC. Essentially the same type of breach of bias. The same people who were supporting Edwards were suddenly silent, if not gloating. And the left? Well, it was their turn to be upset. Rachel Maddow's show used the event as an opportunity to point out how many Fox News anchors and correspondents are openly contributing to political campaigns and even fund-raising for conservative candidates.
So what does this all tell me? Well, now I know that MSNBC and NPR will try to control the personal lives of their reporters through contracts. I also know that Fox News doesn't even try to claim they are unbiased (except for that whole "fair and balanced" tagline). Regardless of what that means or how you come down on the issue, we now have more information than we did last week because a conflict prompted somebody to do some research.
I think the only obligation that should be required of the media is that they distinguish facts from fiction and opinion. I WANT to hear all the crazy and inflammatory crap coming out of the likes of Bill Maher and Glenn Beck. I want to hear the opinions that aren't even close to my own. Why? Because the media is the most powerful tool that we, as Americans, have besides voting to keep our government in check. The free press is the last place that we should be calling for moderation.
Bill Maher vs. Jon Stewart: Maher Takes On Rally To Restore Sanity (VIDEO)
WHY was their take-away message that the media needs to tone it down? I mean, I agree that the press contributes to hate-mongering in this country...there's no doubt. But, without the opposition we get from these two disparate camps of thought (progressive and conservative) we wouldn't have any idea what's going on in our country. We need the conflict so we can get at the truth.
Here's a great example. Conservatives were up in arms a few weeks ago when Bob Edwards was fired from NPR for stating a potentially racially inflammatory opinion on Fox News because it violated his contract. Supporters from far and wide decried the unfairness of it all. Yeah, yeah. But then, last week Keith Olbermann was suspended without pay for contributing to campaigns without getting permission from MSNBC. Essentially the same type of breach of bias. The same people who were supporting Edwards were suddenly silent, if not gloating. And the left? Well, it was their turn to be upset. Rachel Maddow's show used the event as an opportunity to point out how many Fox News anchors and correspondents are openly contributing to political campaigns and even fund-raising for conservative candidates.
So what does this all tell me? Well, now I know that MSNBC and NPR will try to control the personal lives of their reporters through contracts. I also know that Fox News doesn't even try to claim they are unbiased (except for that whole "fair and balanced" tagline). Regardless of what that means or how you come down on the issue, we now have more information than we did last week because a conflict prompted somebody to do some research.
I think the only obligation that should be required of the media is that they distinguish facts from fiction and opinion. I WANT to hear all the crazy and inflammatory crap coming out of the likes of Bill Maher and Glenn Beck. I want to hear the opinions that aren't even close to my own. Why? Because the media is the most powerful tool that we, as Americans, have besides voting to keep our government in check. The free press is the last place that we should be calling for moderation.
Bill Maher vs. Jon Stewart: Maher Takes On Rally To Restore Sanity (VIDEO)
What We Believe: Gun Rights
I agree with this.
When I was working at the ME's office in Florida I walked into the autopsy suite and saw a naked man lying on the slab studded with buck shot gunshot wounds. His toxicology came back with him high on a cocktail of illegal drugs.
Apparently, this guy had a gun and was being pursued by the police when he knocked on the front door of a local home. The mother cracked the door and he asked her if he could use the phone. He was breathless and she could see the gun in his hand. She said no and shut the door. He started pounding on it from outside. The mother called up to her husband that somebody with a gun was trying to break in. He yelled back for her to take the kids and hide in the garage. In the meantime, he grabbed the shotgun he had in his closet and came downstairs. He heard glass breaking in the kitchen and when he walked around the corner he found the criminal standing in the middle of the room pointing a gun at him. Very simply, the homeowner shot him and killed him on sight.
The ME told me this story as we stood over the body and he said something I will never forget. He gestured to the dead man and said, "This is why America is great."
Amen, brother.
Still, I think that a gun owner has responsibility (and criminal liability) for keeping their firearm safe from children or from those that might steal it to commit crimes. Using the automobile analogy from the video, if you buy a car you have to go through training to be licensed to drive. The car has to be registered. If the car is stolen it is reported to the police. Most people would agree that these requirements are reasonable and ensure the safety of both the driver and other people on the road. Why wouldn't this same logic be true for those who own guns?
When I was working at the ME's office in Florida I walked into the autopsy suite and saw a naked man lying on the slab studded with buck shot gunshot wounds. His toxicology came back with him high on a cocktail of illegal drugs.
Apparently, this guy had a gun and was being pursued by the police when he knocked on the front door of a local home. The mother cracked the door and he asked her if he could use the phone. He was breathless and she could see the gun in his hand. She said no and shut the door. He started pounding on it from outside. The mother called up to her husband that somebody with a gun was trying to break in. He yelled back for her to take the kids and hide in the garage. In the meantime, he grabbed the shotgun he had in his closet and came downstairs. He heard glass breaking in the kitchen and when he walked around the corner he found the criminal standing in the middle of the room pointing a gun at him. Very simply, the homeowner shot him and killed him on sight.
The ME told me this story as we stood over the body and he said something I will never forget. He gestured to the dead man and said, "This is why America is great."
Amen, brother.
Still, I think that a gun owner has responsibility (and criminal liability) for keeping their firearm safe from children or from those that might steal it to commit crimes. Using the automobile analogy from the video, if you buy a car you have to go through training to be licensed to drive. The car has to be registered. If the car is stolen it is reported to the police. Most people would agree that these requirements are reasonable and ensure the safety of both the driver and other people on the road. Why wouldn't this same logic be true for those who own guns?
Saturday, November 6, 2010
GOP Leaders Ignore Tea Party's Calls For Earmark Ban
If you think the Republicans care about the Tea Party ideals, I've got some land in Florida to sell you.
GOP Leaders Ignore Tea Party's Calls For Earmark Ban
GOP Leaders Ignore Tea Party's Calls For Earmark Ban
How much will foreclosure-gate cost Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and other banks? - The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com
There you go, folks. Here's what I was talking about.
How much will foreclosure-gate cost Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and other banks? - The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com
"...what if the banks were just using their "modification" attempts as a means to distract borrowers, so they wouldn't realized they were filing phony documents at the courthouse to kick them out.
And here's the real kicker. Some observers are now saying that the banks may have purposely lost the loan documents in order to mislead investors."
"...If the banks don't have the necessary paperwork on most loans and are found to have committed widespread fraud to hide that fact, they may be forced into a mass settlement."
How much will foreclosure-gate cost Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and other banks? - The Curious Capitalist - TIME.com
"...what if the banks were just using their "modification" attempts as a means to distract borrowers, so they wouldn't realized they were filing phony documents at the courthouse to kick them out.
And here's the real kicker. Some observers are now saying that the banks may have purposely lost the loan documents in order to mislead investors."
"...If the banks don't have the necessary paperwork on most loans and are found to have committed widespread fraud to hide that fact, they may be forced into a mass settlement."
U.S. Banks Failing At Fastest Pace In 2 Decades
Remember "too big to fail"? Remember how those gigantic banks almost destroyed the world economy? Well, thanks to our wonderful legislators and their inability to represent WE THE PEOPLE, no meaningful Wall Street reforms were enacted to prevent it from happening again.
As behemoths like Washington Mutual and Countrywide were taking their last breaths, the government allowed them to be absorbed into the surviving monsters. Meanwhile, the small banks have been going under at an alarming rate over the past few years as they face the consequences of the housing mess.
Yeah... believe it or not, the "too big to fail-ures" are even bigger, now.
We'd all better pray that "forclosuregate" doesn't turn into a landfill full of put-backs for the likes of Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo because if it does (and it's looking more and more likely, folks), we will NOT be okay.
U.S. Banks Failing At Fastest Pace In 2 Decades
As behemoths like Washington Mutual and Countrywide were taking their last breaths, the government allowed them to be absorbed into the surviving monsters. Meanwhile, the small banks have been going under at an alarming rate over the past few years as they face the consequences of the housing mess.
Yeah... believe it or not, the "too big to fail-ures" are even bigger, now.
We'd all better pray that "forclosuregate" doesn't turn into a landfill full of put-backs for the likes of Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo because if it does (and it's looking more and more likely, folks), we will NOT be okay.
U.S. Banks Failing At Fastest Pace In 2 Decades
Rachel Maddow on Keith Obermann and the difference between Fox and MSNBC
Thanks for the link, Jimmy!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Keith Olbermann SUSPENDED From MSNBC Indefinitely Without Pay
I'm curious to find out what people think of this. On the one hand, there is the potential for a conflict of interest. (Although I can't see how a liberal news anchor for a liberal network giving to liberal candidates is such a shocking scandal.)
On the other hand, since when do you have to get permission from your employer to exercise your right as a citizen to support a candidate?
David Lazarus: Consumers' right to file class actions is in danger - latimes.com
The case is AT&T Mobility vs. Concepcion. The basic question before the court is whether companies can bar class actions in the fine print of their take-it-or-leave-it contracts with customers and employees.
David Lazarus: Consumers' right to file class actions is in danger - latimes.com
"Consumer advocates say that without the threat of class-action lawsuits, many businesses would be free to engage in unfair or deceptive practices. Few people would litigate on their own to resolve a case involving, say, a hundred bucks.
"The marketplace is fairer for consumers and workers because there's a deterrent out there," said Deepak Gupta, an attorney for the advocacy group Public Citizen who will argue on consumers' behalf before the Supreme Court on Tuesday."
"The marketplace is fairer for consumers and workers because there's a deterrent out there," said Deepak Gupta, an attorney for the advocacy group Public Citizen who will argue on consumers' behalf before the Supreme Court on Tuesday."
Thursday, November 4, 2010
NewsDaily: Six Americans killed in Mexico's drug war city
If those SOB's so much as put one toe onto U.S. soil I say we rain hellfire down on them. In the meantime, people, please...stay OUT of Mexico!
Obama Invites GOP Leaders to White House; McConnell Remains Defiant - FoxNews.com
McConnell is a fool. He just made it clear that he will do NOTHING for the American people over the next two years but waste valuable air.
"McConnell, who is speaking at the Heritage Foundation on Thursday, caught flak for saying after Tuesday's election that his primary objective now is to convince voters to remove Obama from office in 2012."
Obama Can Pursue Ambitious Agenda Without Congress's Help
Very interesting.
"Regulators could go in and do real audits of the banks, he said, instead of "conspiring in the fiction that a lot of toxic mortgage paper is worth 100 cents on the dollar, when everyone knows it isn't."
Those real audits would find many big banks insolvent, allowing the regulators (under the new rules) to dissolve them -- or, at the very least, force them to do such civic-minded things as write-down mortgage principals and increase lending to small businesses."
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
SSRN-Illness and Injury as Contributors to Bankruptcy by David Himmelstein, Elizabeth Warren, Deborah Thorne, Steffie Woolhandler
Two important things are indicated in this study. First, before 2005 (before the housing market crashed) more than half of the bankruptcies in this country happened due to a health crisis in a family. Second, over 75% of those families HAD INSURANCE at the time.
Shipping Jobs Overseas: How Real Is the Problem?
Very real.
"Forrester Research Inc. predicts U.S. employers will move 3.4 million white-collar jobs and $136 billion in wages overseas by 2015. The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas estimates the number of service-sector jobs moving overseas each year will hit 588,000..." "A University of California at Berkeley report finds 14 million jobs are at risk of being sent offshore, and predicts job losses will exceed the Forrester study’s projections."
Still sending jobs to China??
The fact that corporations would even THINK to send jobs overseas when our country is experiencing over 9% unemployment is sick. Just because you CAN get people to work for a dollar an hour with no benefits doesn't mean you SHOULD.
Have you ever wondered why we have entitlement programs that encompass 60% of the federal budget? Right there. That's why.
When your moral obligation is to make money for your stockholders rather than to improving life for American citizens, you get a huge (and still growing) disparity between the rich and the poor. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer.
If you want to get rid of entitlements, bring up the middle class by providing jobs and good benefits. When people can take care of themselves, they won't have to rely on the government.
As far as I'm concerned, we've brought this on ourselves with unethical business practices.
Something has got to change.
ADP: Blah in [Market-Ticker]
Have you ever wondered why we have entitlement programs that encompass 60% of the federal budget? Right there. That's why.
When your moral obligation is to make money for your stockholders rather than to improving life for American citizens, you get a huge (and still growing) disparity between the rich and the poor. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer.
If you want to get rid of entitlements, bring up the middle class by providing jobs and good benefits. When people can take care of themselves, they won't have to rely on the government.
As far as I'm concerned, we've brought this on ourselves with unethical business practices.
Something has got to change.
ADP: Blah in [Market-Ticker]
Paul Ryan's big plans for a small budget - Fortune Finance
Go, Paul Ryan! I'm proud to call you him representative! If we could have more legislators like him and Chris Christie, we could fix this mess in a few years rather than a decade or two.
Paul Ryan's big plans for a small budget - Fortune Finance
Paul Ryan's big plans for a small budget - Fortune Finance
Undoing health care reform: Not so easy - Nov. 3, 2010
It seems that health care reform will be safe, for the most part. There will be tweaks, and that is a good thing. I happen to agree that forcing small businesses to report purchases of $600 and more on a 1090 form is ridiculous and needs to be eased up.
We'll have to see what the Supreme Court says about requiring everybody to purchase insurance. My feeling is that it is unconstitutional and will be repealed. At that point, the rest of the law is in danger of unraveling.
Undoing health care reform: Not so easy - Nov. 3, 2010
We'll have to see what the Supreme Court says about requiring everybody to purchase insurance. My feeling is that it is unconstitutional and will be repealed. At that point, the rest of the law is in danger of unraveling.
Undoing health care reform: Not so easy - Nov. 3, 2010
Investment Groups Now Hedging Against Banks...
The following is a portion of the Iridian quarterly letter. I'm publishing it here because it is an excellent primer on the evolution of the mortgage-backed security mess from origination to the current foreclosuregate issues.
IRIDIAN Iridian
Asset Management LLC
Our typical quarterly letter has three parts. We describe our current macro view of the world, discuss briefly a current investment theme, and conclude with an examination of micro-market dynamics. Our goal with this structure is to share with our investors what we are seeing from the front lines of the global capital market battleground. But rather than write one more description of the pros and cons of QE 2, rather than write one more post mortem of the SEC report on the Flash Crash or the pernicious impact of correlation on stock picking, we have decided to devote this entire letter to an in-depth review of an investable theme that we are currently researching and acting upon: the mortgage backed securitization (MBS) crisis of 2010. This theme also has secondary and tertiary macroeconomic implications, and therefore influences our portfolio-wide views on risk and exposures.
We call this an MBS crisis, as opposed to “foreclosure-gate” or “robo-signing”, because there are three distinct dimensions to the crisis, only one of which is directly related to the foreclosure process, but all of which are inextricably part of the mortgage securitization process. The dimensions are:
1) Securitization and Underwriting
2) Trust Formation
3) Servicing
We believe that there are substantial investment risks and opportunities stemming from each. Before we discuss these opportunities, however, a brief review of the mortgage securitization process is in order.
In the beginning, there is a loan made to a homebuyer, secured by the title to that home. That is, for every mortgage loan there are two essential legal documents: the IOU or promissory note that establishes what is owed to whom over what period of time and what interest rate, and the deed of trust that is the security pledged to support that IOU. Of the two documents, the note is the dominant one, although without the deed of trust the note is simply a non-recourse note.
For the 900 or so years in which mortgages have existed in the world, the two documents have typically been treated as two sides of the same coin, inseparable and indivisible. With the development of asset-backed securitization, however, that all changed. The two documents were split so that the notes could be pooled, tranched and then sold in the form of securities to different investors with different risk appetites, while the deeds of trust stayed at the local county courthouse. An electronic database kept track of what securities contained what notes, and what notes were linked to what deeds of trust. In this way the securities composed of similar notes could be freely sold and resold, while the unique deeds of trust remained safely off to the side.
This pooling and tranching of residential mortgage notes became the dominant capital market activity in the world, with approximately $9 trillion in such securities created between 2004 and 2008. To create these securities, sponsors (typically investment banks) would purchase the notes in bulk from an originator (typically a commercial bank or dedicated mortgage lender), which would make a representation as to the underwriting standards on which the loans had been made to the homebuyers. The sponsors might “sample” the batch of purchased loans, by hiring a third party such as Clayton Holdings to double check if the homebuyers actually lived up to the standards claimed by the originator, but this due diligence was for the benefit of the sponsor, not the investor in the security. That is, the sponsor might use the results of the sampling to negotiate a better price for the purchase of the bulk loans, but not to update the prospectus of the securitization with more accurate loan quality information. Typical sponsor practice was to parrot the originators’ underwriting claims in the representations made concerning loan quality in the prospectus, because investors in the security were granted a far-reaching warranty – if it turned out that the representations concerning loan quality were not true for any given loan, the investors could put the loan back to the sponsor, where it would be repurchased at par.
As part of the process of creating a “true sale” and a pass-through tax entity, the securities formed by the pooling of the residential mortgage notes are passed through an entity known as a depositor and are ultimately held within a trust, managed by an independent trustee on behalf of the owners/investors of the securities. For a set annual fee (maybe 25 bps of the securitization par value), the trustee takes possession of the notes, confirms that they have been properly assigned and that the deeds of trust are appropriately linked, hires a servicer, and distributes the proceeds of the loans to the investors as per the trust indenture.
The servicer, who also works for a set annual fee (another 25 bps of the securitization par value, perhaps)is responsible for collecting loan payments and taxes from the homeowners as per the terms of their individual note, as well as confirming that title and property insurance are in force. The servicer is typically responsible for remitting those payments to the trust or the appropriate tax authority regardless of whether the homeowner pays what he or she owes, although the servicer is repaid in full for these “advances” plus any associated fees, prior to any other claims that the trust may have, from any recovery proceeds in a foreclosure process. The servicer is responsible for managing any loan modification or foreclosure process, as governed by the loan servicing agreement and the instructions of the trustee.
Problems with Securitization and Underwriting
We believe that the banks that created these mortgage backed securities face as much as $150 billion in “put back” losses on the basis of the standard reps and warranties clause within the securitization documents, against a total current reserve of approximately $10 billion.
There are three potentially aggrieved parties who have purchased these securities in vast quantities and are now in the process of putting the individual loans back to the originating or sponsoring banks: the housing agencies (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), the monolines (insurers of MBS, particularly those comprised of home equity lines of credit and 2nd liens), and investors in “private-label securitizations” (essentially any non-agency securitization). We will examine each in turn...
IRIDIAN Iridian
Asset Management LLC
Our typical quarterly letter has three parts. We describe our current macro view of the world, discuss briefly a current investment theme, and conclude with an examination of micro-market dynamics. Our goal with this structure is to share with our investors what we are seeing from the front lines of the global capital market battleground. But rather than write one more description of the pros and cons of QE 2, rather than write one more post mortem of the SEC report on the Flash Crash or the pernicious impact of correlation on stock picking, we have decided to devote this entire letter to an in-depth review of an investable theme that we are currently researching and acting upon: the mortgage backed securitization (MBS) crisis of 2010. This theme also has secondary and tertiary macroeconomic implications, and therefore influences our portfolio-wide views on risk and exposures.
We call this an MBS crisis, as opposed to “foreclosure-gate” or “robo-signing”, because there are three distinct dimensions to the crisis, only one of which is directly related to the foreclosure process, but all of which are inextricably part of the mortgage securitization process. The dimensions are:
1) Securitization and Underwriting
2) Trust Formation
3) Servicing
We believe that there are substantial investment risks and opportunities stemming from each. Before we discuss these opportunities, however, a brief review of the mortgage securitization process is in order.
In the beginning, there is a loan made to a homebuyer, secured by the title to that home. That is, for every mortgage loan there are two essential legal documents: the IOU or promissory note that establishes what is owed to whom over what period of time and what interest rate, and the deed of trust that is the security pledged to support that IOU. Of the two documents, the note is the dominant one, although without the deed of trust the note is simply a non-recourse note.
For the 900 or so years in which mortgages have existed in the world, the two documents have typically been treated as two sides of the same coin, inseparable and indivisible. With the development of asset-backed securitization, however, that all changed. The two documents were split so that the notes could be pooled, tranched and then sold in the form of securities to different investors with different risk appetites, while the deeds of trust stayed at the local county courthouse. An electronic database kept track of what securities contained what notes, and what notes were linked to what deeds of trust. In this way the securities composed of similar notes could be freely sold and resold, while the unique deeds of trust remained safely off to the side.
This pooling and tranching of residential mortgage notes became the dominant capital market activity in the world, with approximately $9 trillion in such securities created between 2004 and 2008. To create these securities, sponsors (typically investment banks) would purchase the notes in bulk from an originator (typically a commercial bank or dedicated mortgage lender), which would make a representation as to the underwriting standards on which the loans had been made to the homebuyers. The sponsors might “sample” the batch of purchased loans, by hiring a third party such as Clayton Holdings to double check if the homebuyers actually lived up to the standards claimed by the originator, but this due diligence was for the benefit of the sponsor, not the investor in the security. That is, the sponsor might use the results of the sampling to negotiate a better price for the purchase of the bulk loans, but not to update the prospectus of the securitization with more accurate loan quality information. Typical sponsor practice was to parrot the originators’ underwriting claims in the representations made concerning loan quality in the prospectus, because investors in the security were granted a far-reaching warranty – if it turned out that the representations concerning loan quality were not true for any given loan, the investors could put the loan back to the sponsor, where it would be repurchased at par.
As part of the process of creating a “true sale” and a pass-through tax entity, the securities formed by the pooling of the residential mortgage notes are passed through an entity known as a depositor and are ultimately held within a trust, managed by an independent trustee on behalf of the owners/investors of the securities. For a set annual fee (maybe 25 bps of the securitization par value), the trustee takes possession of the notes, confirms that they have been properly assigned and that the deeds of trust are appropriately linked, hires a servicer, and distributes the proceeds of the loans to the investors as per the trust indenture.
The servicer, who also works for a set annual fee (another 25 bps of the securitization par value, perhaps)is responsible for collecting loan payments and taxes from the homeowners as per the terms of their individual note, as well as confirming that title and property insurance are in force. The servicer is typically responsible for remitting those payments to the trust or the appropriate tax authority regardless of whether the homeowner pays what he or she owes, although the servicer is repaid in full for these “advances” plus any associated fees, prior to any other claims that the trust may have, from any recovery proceeds in a foreclosure process. The servicer is responsible for managing any loan modification or foreclosure process, as governed by the loan servicing agreement and the instructions of the trustee.
Problems with Securitization and Underwriting
We believe that the banks that created these mortgage backed securities face as much as $150 billion in “put back” losses on the basis of the standard reps and warranties clause within the securitization documents, against a total current reserve of approximately $10 billion.
There are three potentially aggrieved parties who have purchased these securities in vast quantities and are now in the process of putting the individual loans back to the originating or sponsoring banks: the housing agencies (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), the monolines (insurers of MBS, particularly those comprised of home equity lines of credit and 2nd liens), and investors in “private-label securitizations” (essentially any non-agency securitization). We will examine each in turn...
For the rest of this article, click here
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Constitution for the United States of America
A link to the Constitution for the United States of America
And just for the record...
No, the 1st Amendment does not mention the separation of church and state in precisely those words. However, Thomas Jefferson, himself, coined the phrase when referencing the 1st Amendment in 1802.
"In October 1801, the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut wrote to President Jefferson, and in their letter they voiced some concerns about Religious Freedom. On January 1, 1802 Jefferson wrote a letter to them in which he added the phrase "Separation of Church and State." When you read the full letter, you will understand that Jefferson was simply underscoring the First Amendment as a guardian of the peoples religious freedom from government interference. Here is an excerpt from Jefferson's letter. . .
"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."
And just for the record...
No, the 1st Amendment does not mention the separation of church and state in precisely those words. However, Thomas Jefferson, himself, coined the phrase when referencing the 1st Amendment in 1802.
"In October 1801, the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut wrote to President Jefferson, and in their letter they voiced some concerns about Religious Freedom. On January 1, 1802 Jefferson wrote a letter to them in which he added the phrase "Separation of Church and State." When you read the full letter, you will understand that Jefferson was simply underscoring the First Amendment as a guardian of the peoples religious freedom from government interference. Here is an excerpt from Jefferson's letter. . .
"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."
Election Predictions..... Tickerguy's Take in [Market-Ticker]
Karl Denninger is brilliant, if not a bit whackadoo. I love his blog for a unique perspective.
Election Predictions..... Tickerguy's Take in [Market-Ticker]
"Putbacks" and Foreclosuregate in general are not going away. There has been an awful lot of "hopium" related to the premise that this is all a big "overblown" nothing. Uh, no. The hosed here aren't a handful of people, and the amount of money at issue is well north of $1 trillion. There are at least three class-action lawsuits on the homeowner side already in process, and any of them could detonate in the banks' face. Note carefully that pension managers do not have discretion in this matter - if they believe they can recover they are required as fiduciaries for the pensioners to sue. This is a gigantic hairball folks, and it's not over."
Election Predictions..... Tickerguy's Take in [Market-Ticker]
"Putbacks" and Foreclosuregate in general are not going away. There has been an awful lot of "hopium" related to the premise that this is all a big "overblown" nothing. Uh, no. The hosed here aren't a handful of people, and the amount of money at issue is well north of $1 trillion. There are at least three class-action lawsuits on the homeowner side already in process, and any of them could detonate in the banks' face. Note carefully that pension managers do not have discretion in this matter - if they believe they can recover they are required as fiduciaries for the pensioners to sue. This is a gigantic hairball folks, and it's not over."
Americans Bravely Go To Polls Despite Threat Of Electing Congress | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
Love it!
Americans Bravely Go To Polls Despite Threat Of Electing Congress | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "The day was not without tragedy, however, as the choice between voting for incumbent Harry Reid and challenger Sharron Angle left 20 Americans dead and injured 13 at a Carson City, NV polling place."
Americans Bravely Go To Polls Despite Threat Of Electing Congress | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "The day was not without tragedy, however, as the choice between voting for incumbent Harry Reid and challenger Sharron Angle left 20 Americans dead and injured 13 at a Carson City, NV polling place."
First Read - First Thoughts: How we got here
A nice summary.
First Read - First Thoughts: How we got here
"It’s Election Day… How we got to the point where everyone is expecting a big GOP night: Unemployment is near 10%... Dems won health care but lost the middle in the process… The Tea Party gave the GOP the enthusiasm edge (and a way to re-brand the party after Bush)… And Democrats were unable to fundamentally change how Washington works… Despite it all, the White House and the Dem-controlled Congress accomplished A LOT… The new kids on the block… Dems desperately in search of a silver lining… A primer on tonight’s battle for control… Why 2012 might not look like 2010… And other fingertip facts."
First Read - First Thoughts: How we got here
"It’s Election Day… How we got to the point where everyone is expecting a big GOP night: Unemployment is near 10%... Dems won health care but lost the middle in the process… The Tea Party gave the GOP the enthusiasm edge (and a way to re-brand the party after Bush)… And Democrats were unable to fundamentally change how Washington works… Despite it all, the White House and the Dem-controlled Congress accomplished A LOT… The new kids on the block… Dems desperately in search of a silver lining… A primer on tonight’s battle for control… Why 2012 might not look like 2010… And other fingertip facts."
Vote411.org
A great resource! Find your polling place. Register. Even check out the candidates and ballot measures BEFORE you're standing there wondering if the name "Smith" or "Jones" seems more honest...
Vote411.org
Vote411.org
Lawmaker Vows to Outlaw Insider Trading on Capitol Hill - WSJ.com
This is disgusting and represents so much of what is wrong with our government. Why aren't people up in arms about this? Where is accountability? We can only hope it comes today at the polls.
Lawmaker Vows to Outlaw Insider Trading on Capitol Hill - WSJ.com: "Congress is immune from insider-trading laws; federal regulators have never brought an insider-trading case against either congressional members of their staffs. Unlike many executive branch employees, lawmakers and aides don't have restrictions on their stock holdings and ownership interests in companies they oversee."
"When the bill—the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or Stock Act—was introduced nearly five years ago, just 14 other lawmakers endorsed it. A current version of the bill has fared worse, with support from just nine lawmakers. There is no companion legislation in the Senate."
Lawmaker Vows to Outlaw Insider Trading on Capitol Hill - WSJ.com: "Congress is immune from insider-trading laws; federal regulators have never brought an insider-trading case against either congressional members of their staffs. Unlike many executive branch employees, lawmakers and aides don't have restrictions on their stock holdings and ownership interests in companies they oversee."
"When the bill—the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or Stock Act—was introduced nearly five years ago, just 14 other lawmakers endorsed it. A current version of the bill has fared worse, with support from just nine lawmakers. There is no companion legislation in the Senate."
Obama-FDR parallel should make Dems shiver in '10 - War Room - Salon.com
History repeats itself. This article is fascinating. Unfortunately, we can't know if a difference in policy would have jump-started an economy that was damaged so badly when the bottom was pulled out from under us in 2007. I'm surprised that people really expect us to just bounce back as if the crash was just like any other recession.
Obama-FDR parallel should make Dems shiver in '10 - War Room - Salon.com
Obama-FDR parallel should make Dems shiver in '10 - War Room - Salon.com
Citigroup’s Toxic Mortgage Pipeline Could Mean Mammoth Put-Back Risks - CNBC
Put-backs are inevitable. When lawyers start sniffing around it's only a matter of time before the big banks will be paying the piper for all of the crappy loan originations from the last decade. Can't say it breaks my heart, either.
Citigroup’s Toxic Mortgage Pipeline Could Mean Mammoth Put-Back Risks - CNBC
Citigroup’s Toxic Mortgage Pipeline Could Mean Mammoth Put-Back Risks - CNBC
Impetus
It's become fairly obvious to me that my friends and family on Facebook are sick of my constant barrage of links and articles on political themes such as the banking industry, campaign finance reform, healthcare and corruption in government. Judging from the silence in response, I've come to the conclusion that one of two things must be happening here. Either people don't care, or I'm breaking convention by rudely foisting my political leanings onto those who haven't asked for my opinions.
Regarding the latter, it's possible that most people know better than to reveal their views about hot-button issues on a social network. It's possible that I am just oblivious. Given that I come from a long line of boisterous rabble-rousers who have figuratively given the finger to convention for generations, I'd say it's not my fault...it's genetic.
But if the former is true, I have a few things to say. Read a book. Pick up the paper...or download an app for it to your smartphone. Figure out what you believe in and when you do, at the very least, vote. I fear for our nation if the majority of the people don't care.
And so I've decided to start a blog. Another blog. For anybody who cares.
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